This couple didn’t pay rent for 6 years - and it’s LEGAL!

They scored their dream home and it looks like the law is on their side.
- bythat's life!

10 Jan
2017

Zachary Bennett

Zachary Bennett and his partner Karen Nourse have managed to not pay a single dollar of their rent for over six years - and their landlord can’t do anything about it!

The couple and their two children live in a converted loft in the industrial area of Chelsea, New York, and since a law change in 2010 have been able to legally avoid paying rent saving them a whopping $560,000.

The couple’s lawyer say their landlord doesn’t have the right to charge them rent or electricity bills because the building doesn’t have a residential certificate of occupancy - which declares the formerly commercial building safe for use as a residence.

‘For the building to be safe and legal for them to live in, the law requires the landlord to have a residential certificate of occupancy,’ lawyer Margaret Sandercock told the New York Post.

Nevertheless the landlord has filed suit against the couple for failing to pay rent and utilities. The landlord's lawyer, Harry Shapiro, says: ‘They can stay if they pay.’